Publications

Survey of Energy Resources 2007

Crude Oil and Natural Gas Liquids Country Notes

Peru is probably the oldest commercial producer of oil in South America. The WEC Member Committee reports that proved recoverable reserves at end-2005 consisted of 382.9 million barrels of crude oil and 695.4 million barrels of NGL, reflecting data published by the Ministerio de Energía y Minas, and equivalent in rounded terms to 52 and 65 million tonnes, respectively. The reported total of
1 078 million barrels corresponds quite closely with the levels published by World Oil and BP, but Oil & Gas Journal comes out somewhat lower at 930 million barrels, despite having raised its assessment substantially from the 323 million barrels it had quoted for end-2002.

The Ministerio de Energía y Minas also quotes (in million barrels) 'probable reserves' of 438.1 crude and 294.3 NGL, and 'possible reserves' of 5 418.1 crude and 384.1 NGL.

For many years oil production was centred on the fields in the Costa (coastal) area in the northwest; from about 1960 onwards the Zocalo (continental shelf) off the north-west coast and the Selva (jungle) area east of the Andes came into the picture. In 2005 the Selva fields accounted for 73% of total oil output, the Costa fields for 17% and the Zocalo for nearly 10%. Production of crude oil has for some time followed a gently downward slope, but output of NGLs has recently been growing rapidly.